The determination of the location of a distant subterranean object may be of considerable commercial importance in the fields of well drilling, tunnel boring, pipeline laying under rivers or other surface obstructions, hard rock mining, and so on. In hydrocarbon extraction, a drill string may be 3 to 6 inches in diameter, and yet may extend many thousands of feet into the ground. Given the non-homogeneity of the underlying geological structure, and the tendency for drill bits to wander, it may be difficult to know with reasonable accuracy where the drill bit may be. This issue may tend to have enhanced importance in the context of, for example, directional drilling, where it may be desired to follow a relatively narrow and possibly undulating geological feature, such as a coal seam, a hydrocarbon pay zone for oil or gas extraction, an ore vein or pipe, such as a kimberlite pipe from which a mineral or other resource is to be extracted, or the boring of a utility conduit in an urban area.
There are known methods of addressing these issues, sometimes termed borehole telemetry. A typical system might involve magnetic sensors that indicate azimuth angle (i.e., compass direction relative to North) and angle of dip. Gyroscopic (i.e., inertial) and magnetic sensors have been used for some time. Adjustments in drilling may occur on the basis of these signals. It may also be noted that while borehole telemetry may pertain to the absolute position of a drill head, it may also refer to, and have significant commercial importance in relation to, the relative position of one bore hole to another, as in steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) or of bore position relative to a geological boundary structure.
Most typically, MWD tools are deployed to measure the earth's gravity and magnetic field to determine the inclination and azimuth. Knowledge of the course and position of the wellbore depends entirely on these two angles. Under normal operating conditions, the inclination measurement accuracy is approximately plus or minus 0.2 degrees. Such an error translates into a target location uncertainty of about 3.0 meters per 1000 meters along the borehole. Additionally, dip rate variations of several degrees are common.
Commentary on downhole telemetry is also provided in U.S. Pat. No. 6,781,521, of Gardner et al., which issued on Aug. 24, 2004 in the context of transmitting downhole data to the surface during measurement while drilling (MWD) (See col. 1, line 46 to col. 2, line 57, in part as follows).
“At present, there are four major categories of telemetry systems that have been used in an attempt to provide real time data from the vicinity of the drill bit to the surface; namely, mud pressure pulses, insulated conductors, acoustics and electromagnetic waves.”
“In a mud pressure pulse system, the resistance of mud flow through a drill string is modulated by means of a valve and control mechanism mounted in a special drill collar near the bit. This type of system typically transmits at 1 bit per second as the pressure pulse travels up the mud column at or near the velocity of sound in the mud. It is well known that mud pulse systems are intrinsically limited to a few bits per second due to attenuation and spreading of pulses.”
“Insulated conductors, or hard wire connection from the bit to the surface, is an alternative method for establishing downhole communications. This type of system is capable of a high data rate and two way communication is possible. It has been found, however, that this type of system requires a special drill pipe and special tool joint connectors which substantially increase the cost of a drilling operation. Also, these systems are prone to failure as a result of the abrasive conditions of the mud system and the wear caused by the rotation of the drill string.”
“Acoustic systems have provided a third alternative. Typically, an acoustic signal is generated near the bit and is transmitted through the drill pipe, mud column or the earth. It has been found, however, that the very low intensity of the signal which can be generated downhole, along with the acoustic noise generated by the drilling system, makes signal detection difficult. Reflective and refractive interference resulting from changing diameters and thread makeup at the tool joints compounds the signal attenuation problem for drill pipe transmission.”
“The fourth technique used to telemeter downhole data to the surface uses the transmission of electromagnetic waves through the earth. A current carrying downhole data signal is input to a toroid or collar positioned adjacent to the drill bit or input directly to the drill string. When a toroid is utilized, a primary winding, carrying the data for transmission, is wrapped around the toroid and a secondary is formed by the drill pipe. A receiver is connected to the ground at the surface where the electromagnetic data is picked up and recorded. It has been found, however, that in deep or noisy well applications, conventional electromagnetic systems are unable to generate a signal with sufficient intensity to be recovered at the surface.”
“In general, the quality of an electromagnetic signal reaching the surface is measured in terms of signal to noise ratio. As the ratio drops, it becomes more difficult to recover or reconstruct the signal. While increasing the power of the transmitted signal is an obvious way of increasing the signal to noise ratio, this approach is limited by batteries suitable for the purpose and the desire to extend the time between battery replacements. It is also known to pass band filter received signals to remove noise out of the frequency band of the signal transmitter. These approaches have allowed development of commercial borehole electromagnetic telemetry systems which work at data rates of up to four bits per second and at depths of up to 4000 feet without repeaters in MWD applications. It would be desirable to transmit signals from deeper wells and with much higher data rates which will be required for logging while drilling, LWD, systems.”
The problem of transmitting encoded data by acoustic signals is also discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,360 of Leggett et al., issued Sep. 2, 2003, who suggest that much preliminary data processing may occur downhole (See col. 3, line 60 to col. 4, line 30).
The art discusses efforts to address the downhole signal strength or signal attenuation issue either by using acoustic repeaters, or by filtering out, or cancelling out either acoustic or EM noise. U.S. Pat. No. 6,781,521 of Gardner appears to be fairly sophisticated in this regard. Techniques of the nature of those described by Gardner tend to be directed toward the problem of identifying a signal where the signal to noise ratio is very small, perhaps of the order of a few thousandths.